Minimization of the pulse's timing jitter in a dispersion-compensated WDM system

We address the problem of the collision-induced crosstalk between pulses in a dispersion-compensated WDM system composed of a periodic array of cells that include two or three fiber segments. Both the cross- and self-phase-modulation nonlinearities are taken into account. A semi-analytical approximation and direct simulations are used to calculate the frequency shift (FS) of colliding pulses, and to search for conditions which provide for minima of the FS and the temporal shift (TS), including the most promising possibility of minimizing both shifts simultaneously. Semi-analytical results, obtained by means of the perturbation theory, are in qualitative agreement with the numerical findings, especially in regimes near the optimum. In searching for the FS and TS minima, we investigate the effect of changing the initial width and chirp of the pulse, position of the amplifier within the dispersion–compensation period, group-velocity difference between the channels, allocation of the group-velocity-dispersion (GVD) inside the cell, and the average GVD. We conclude that a more sophisticated dispersion–compensation map, with three different local values of GVD, may be significantly more efficient than the one based on two different segments. A global FS minimum, with respect to the variation of all the parameters, is found.     

Global minimization by reducing the duality gap

We derive a general principle demonstrating that by partitioning the feasible set, the duality gap, existing between a nonconvex program and its lagrangian dual, can be reduced, and in important special cases, even eliminated. The principle can be implemented in a Branch and Bound algorithm which computes an approximate global solution and a corresponding lower bound on the global optimal value. The algorithm involves decomposition and a nonsmooth local search. Numerical results for applying the algorithm to the pooling problem in oil refineries are given.Research supported by Shell Laboratorium, Amsterdam, and GIF—The German—Israel Foundation for Scientific Research and Development.     

Extending Scope of Robust Optimization: Comprehensive Robust Counterparts of Uncertain Problems

In this paper, we propose a new methodology for handling optimization problems with uncertain data. With the usual Robust Optimization paradigm, one looks for the decisions ensuring a required performance for all realizations of the data from a given bounded uncertainty set, whereas with the proposed approach, we require also a controlled deterioration in performance when the data is outside the uncertainty set. The extension of Robust Optimization methodology developed in this paper opens up new possibilities to solve efficiently multi-stage finite-horizon uncertain optimization problems, in particular, to analyze and to synthesize linear controllers for discrete time dynamical systems. Research was supported by the Binational Science Foundation grant #2002038     

An operator on a Fréchet space with no common invariant subspace with its inverse

A Fréchet space with a two-sided Schauder basis is constructed, such that the corresponding bilateral shift is continuous and invertible, and has no common nontrivial invariant subspace with its inverse. This shows in particular, that the problem of existence of hyperinvariant subspaces for operators on general Fréchet spaces, admits a negative answer. It is also shown that the dual of the Fréchet space constructed can be identified with a commutative locally convex complete topological algebra with unit, which has no closed nontrivial ideals.     

Robust solutions of Linear Programming problems contaminated with uncertain data

Optimal solutions of Linear Programming problems may become severely infeasible if the nominal data is slightly perturbed. We demonstrate this phenomenon by studying 90 LPs from the well-known NETLIB collection. We then apply the Robust Optimization methodology (Ben-Tal and Nemirovski [1–3]; El Ghaoui et al. [5, 6]) to produce “robust” solutions of the above LPs which are in a sense immuned against uncertainty. Surprisingly, for the NETLIB problems these robust solutions nearly lose nothing in optimality. Received: July 1999 / Accepted: May 2000?Published online July 20, 2000     

Projection operators and states in the tensor product of quaternion hilbert modules

Following the construction of tensor product spaces of quaternion Hilbert modules in our previous paper, we define the analogue of a ray (in a complex quantum mechanics) and the corresponding projection operator, and through these the notion of a state and density operators. We find that there is a one-to-one correspondence between a state and an equivalence class of vectors from the tensor product space, which gives us another method to define the gauge transformations.On sabbatical leave from the School of Physics and Astronomy, Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. Work supported in part by a fellowship from the Ambrose Monell Foundation.     

Multivariate pressure effects on an electron hopping process in ferroelectric KTa<Subscript>1−x</Subscript>Nb<Subscript>x</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript>

The effect induced by the presence of a polaron related relaxation process on the dielectric properties of a ferroelectric KTa_1?x Nb _x O₃ (KTN) crystal was investigated (10^-2?10⁶ Hz, at 300?375 K) using broadband dielectric spectroscopy. Characterization of the process using just the standard frequency domain dielectric parameters can nonetheless provide penetrating insight into its nature and origins. The three parameters, namely: relaxation time (τ), Cole-Cole loss broadening (α), and dielectric strength (Δ?) provide each one in its own way, much useful and often overlooked information. The Activation Energy along with the Meyer-Neldel dependance, both extracted from τ serve to illuminate the dynamic properties. At the same time, α and especially the combined α(lnτ) relationship, expose the fractal structure of the underlying landscape. Finally, the static parameter Δ?, enables quantification of the dipolar correlations. Hydrostatic pressure (up to 7.5 kbar) was applied to gently perturb the system and observe the outcome on all of the various parameters. This additional degree of freedom allows for a much more comprehensive exploration of the phase space behavior of the system.     

Robust multi-echelon multi-period inventory control

We consider the problem of minimizing the overall cost of a supply chain, over a possible long horizon, under demand uncertainly which is known only crudely. Under such circumstances, the method of choice is Robust Optimization, in particular the Affinely Adjustable Robust Counterpart (AARC) method which leads to tractable deterministic optimization problems. The latter is due to a recent re-parametrization technique for discrete time linear control systems. In this paper we model, analyze and test an extension of the AARC method known as the Globalized Robust Counterpart (GRC) in order to control inventories in serial supply chains. A simulation study demonstrates the merit of the methods employed here, in particular, it shows that a good control law that minimizes cost achieves simultaneously good control of the bullwhip effect.     

Tensor product of quaternion hilbert modules

One of the main problems in the theory of quaternion quantum mechanics has been the construction of a tensor product of quaternion Hilbert modules. A solution to this problem is given by studying the tensor product of quaternion algebras (over the reals) and some of its quotient modules. Real, complex, and (covariant) quaternion scalar products are found in the tensor product spaces. Annihilationcreation operators are constructed, corresponding to the second quantization of the quaternion quantum theory with Bose-Einstein or Fermi-Dirac statistics. The gauge transformations of a tensor product vector and the gauge fields are studied.On Sabbatical leave from the School of Physics and Astronomy, Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. Work supported in part by a fellowship from the Ambrose Monell Foundation.     

Microwave-assisted polyol synthesis of CuInTe2 and CuInSe2 nanoparticles

Nanoparticles of the CuInTe(2) (CIT) and CuInSe(2) (CIS) alloys have been prepared using the microwave-assisted polyol method. In this simple and quick reaction the polyol is both the solvent and the reducing agent. XRD studies show that nanoparticles of CIT and CIS are formed in the body-centered tetragonal structure and their average diameters are approximately 94 and approximately 83 nm, respectively. Electron microscopy studies show that these formed particles are poorly aggregated with a mean diameter of 100 and 85 nm, respectively. The products have been characterized by different analytical techniques, and the electronic properties have been measured using photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS).